Zimbabwe diplomats surviving on chicken feet, gizzards

A Zimbabwean diplomat said in an interview at the weekend as he outlined the increasingly dire situation at the country's foreign missions that they are surviving on chicken feet and zvikanganwa hama (gizzards), the situation is really bad.

Frustration is said to be high in the service and morale rock bottom.

President Robert Mugabe has spent millions travelling the globe so far this year, even as the government admits it is struggling for money as tax revenues have been hit by the 80%-plus unemployment rate and the closure of hundreds of companies.

But while Mugabe is spared the pain of the cash-squeeze, which critics blame on his inept management of the economy, staff at the country's foreign missions have been condemned to penury.

Many say they are struggling to survive, having gone for 14 months without pay.